Two years later it re-established diplomatic relations, which had been severed since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

BBC: Struggle for Iraq

During the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948 Ben-Gurion forbade the army to conquer the West Bank.

ECONOMIST: Why Israel obstructs reconciliation

When the first Arab-Israeli war broke out in 1948, reports say that Arafat slipped into Palestine to fight the Israelis.

CNN: Struggle for Peace: Yasser Arafat

At first the media just broadcast statements by officials and analysis along with patriotic songs, some dating from the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

WSJ: Strikes in Syria Raise Alarm

Only the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, and its shock to the Middle East status quo, made it possible for President Jimmy Carter to move in and negotiate the historic Camp David peace accords between Egypt and Israel.

WSJ: In Crisis, Opportunity for Barack Obama

Modern conflicts have helped cripple Sidon's economy: It is the western terminus of a 780-mile-long oil pipeline from Saudi Arabia built in 1950 by the predecessors of ExxonMobil and Chevron but shut down in the aftermath of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

FORBES: Magazine Article

There are flashpoints on the periphery (an Iran or Iraq gathering weapons of mass destruction), but the end of the cold war has made the Arab-Israeli conflict far less likely to cause a big explosion in world affairs.

ECONOMIST: Israel at 50